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Woman With Stage IV Breast Cancer Gives Birth After Brain Tumor Diagnosis
Maralee Lellio was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer that had spread to her brain in 2020. After undergoing treatment including radiation and a PARP inhibitor, she later became pregnant and gave birth to a second daughter in July 2024. She continues regular scans and is scheduled for a hysterectomy.
May 9, 8:00 AM·2m read1 source
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Maralee Lellio was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer at age 29. Her oncologist recommended chemotherapy and surgery. Before beginning chemotherapy she and her husband froze embryos, and she underwent a double mastectomy.
Lellio was declared cancer-free in September 2019. The couple then began IVF with the goal of having a second child for their daughter who was then 2 years old. Headaches and dizziness later appeared.
A CT scan showed nothing abnormal at first. The headaches intensified and became incapacitating. In the summer of 2020 she went to the emergency room where an MRI revealed a large brain tumor. Doctors told her the cancer had recurred as Stage IV breast cancer that had spread to her brain.
Only about 1 in 3 patients with Stage IV breast cancer survive more than five years according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The disease is considered incurable. Lellio underwent a craniotomy but the tumor grew back larger than before.
She transferred her care and began radiation treatment. The radiation caused seizures and left her unable to walk. She said she accepted that she was dying and would not see her daughter grow up or have a second child.
Her husband overheard her expressing those thoughts to a friend on the phone. He told her he believed she could survive and that there were cases where people beat the odds. That conversation changed her approach.
She decided to try. Her care was later transferred to another oncologist in July 2021. She told the new doctor she believed she would live despite the diagnosis. Scans showed the radiation had shrunk the brain tumor to almost nothing.
